Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Shadow Minister for Territory Families and Opposition Whip Joshua Burgoyne says there's been little to no consultation on changes to alcohol in communities legislation

Transcript

Shadow Minister for Territory Families and Opposition Whip Joshua Burgoyne says there's been little to no consultation on changes to alcohol in communities legislation · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Parliament resumes in the Northern Territory today and with the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: new Chief Minister at the helm as we know, so
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: it is going to be interesting to see how it
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: all rolls out. Anyone who's watched much of the Northern
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Territory Parliament in recent years will know that Natasha Files
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: is also the Leader of Government Business and ordinarily quite
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the attack dog, I think you'd have to say for
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the government. Now, that's not usually a role that you'd
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: expect of a Chief Minister, so it is going to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: be interesting to see how those roles move around. Whether
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: we'll see much movement this week or today, or whether
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: that's something that will more see change I guess over
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the next time that parliament sits, but either way it
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: is going to be interesting and there is also going
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to be a few members of Labor of course, vying
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: for portfolios over the next few days. Friday, it's expected
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that they're going to make that announcement about any cabinet changes,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: and though the new Chief Minister didn't give much away
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: on the show yesterday, speculation is rife about the Deputy
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Chief Minister role and many wondering if there's going to
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: be a shake up with a new minister boarding, so
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting, but nonetheless it's going to
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: be a busy week in parliament, and we know that
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the Shadow Minister for Territory Families and Opposition Whip, Joshua
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Burgoyne reckons the COLP is going to use this week's
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: parliament to focus on protecting territory workers, ensuring adequate checks
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: and balances on COVID decisions, and calling for more consultation
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: with communities and stakeholders ahead of Labour's introduction of laws
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: to allow alcohol to flow freely in the bush. Now,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the Shadow Minister for Territory Families and Opposition Whip Joshua
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Burgoyne joins me on the line. Good morning to you, Josh.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning to you listening now.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Josh, you and I have spoken a lot on the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: show in recent weeks about the introduction of legislation allowing
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: alcohol back into communities. I've spoken to John Pattison from
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: amsand I've spoken to the Minister Responsible of course, Natasha Files,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: to the Police Association and various others. I know that
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: previously the Opposition leader Leofanoki had indicated that the Opposition
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: had planned to support this legislation. But that doesn't appear
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: to be the case now why not?
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, we've basically taken a whole heap of range
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: of views from right across the Northern Territory. We had
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: our briefing two weeks ago, and from that briefing it
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: was very clear that there had been little to no
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: consultation with the people that were actually going to be
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: affected by these legislative changes. Now we have, as you
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: spoke about, key people from ngngos right across the Northern
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Territory are literally walking in my office this morning. I've
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: got another email sent from John Boffer, who is a
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: part of Congress down in our Springs, just pleading with
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: people to please have a long, hard think about how
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: this legislation could affect people on the ground. I want
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to make it very clear the Country Liberal Party are
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: all for ensuring that people out in these remote communities
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: can choose for themselves. But how can you make a choice, Katie,
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: when you have no idea what these changes even mean
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: for you in your community?
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: So, Josh, what do you reckon needs to happen here?
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Or is it just a situation where there needs to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: be more consultation or do we need a situation where
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: it's an opting in rather than an opting out as
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: we've been told about by the now Chief ministon Attasha Files.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right, Katie, And this is exactly the confusion.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: It's the ability to actually opt out. So what we'd
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: like to see is that the current restrictions are in
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: place continue and should communities actually say, hey, we want
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: to allow alcohol into our communities, that they've sat down,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: they've had the conversation, they've made sure that the relevant
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: health services are in place along with all the other
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: support services, then they can actually opt out. But yeah,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: it's this confusion that is right amongst people with When
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: we were in that briefing two weeks ago, the letters
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: informing landowners had only just gone out two days earlier,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: so you know, this is legislation that's been on the
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: notice paper for some time now. Only two weeks ago
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: did they send out the letters. Some of these remote locations.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Obviously you have to ask the question, are people that
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: are going to be affected even know what's actually going
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: to occur. So, look, there's been a lot of talk
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: about this. Pat Turner was one that I listened to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: spoke on radio. Now she's the head of MARCHO, the
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: National Laboraginal Community Control Health Organization. One of her quotes
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: that really sunk in with me was she said, we've
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: got enough social issues and problems in the Northern Territory
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: without adding to that. And that's a real fear from
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: a lot of organizations. We don't want to add to
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: any social issues that we already have by possibly introducing
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: bad legislation.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's one of those ones that I think, you know,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: on the face of her to begin with, I know,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: for me, I understood it that it was going to
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: be a situation where if communities wanted to have alcohol
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: in restricted ways in them, that would be something that
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: they could apply to do. So I was quite surprised
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: when I learned that, no, no, that wasn't the case. Obviously,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: you know, that'd be able to apply to have a
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: licensed venue like a keyo school or a takeaway venue
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: if that is what they chose. But the reality here is,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: if I understand correctly that it's no longer going to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: be illegal, or it's no longer you know, they're now
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: going to be in a situation in these communities where
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: if somebody takes takeaway alcohol in that's not illegal.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's so much to this, Katie, and to break
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: it down and make it as simple as I can.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: My community of Alice Springs, where I come from, is
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: going to be really impacted by this. We have a
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: lot of town camps around the CBD YEP, and they
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: previously you haven't been allowed to take alcohol into those
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: town camps. Now as of the sixteenth of July, you
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: will be able to because they weren't previously covered under
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: an alcohol restricted area. I think there's only one town
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: camp in Ala Springs, Abbots Camp, which is actually covered
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: under that. And we asked at the briefing very clearly,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: can we please get a list of all the communities,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: all the outstates, all the homelands that are going to
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: remain alcohol free and those that we still haven't received
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: those key bits of information. We're asked for maps because
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: obviously a lot of these new areas now were literally
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: staked out back before the intervention, so we need to
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: find out exactly what areas are going to be alcohol
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: free and what aren't. So it's very hard back in
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: legislation when you don't have all the information that you've.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Asked for, Josh, for a lot of people listening, they
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: are going to be thinking, yes, I am concerned that
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: there may be issues in those communities. But right now
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: we're seeing those issues in Darwin, Catherine and Alice Springs
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: because people are coming here to get their hands on alcohol.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I understand that frustration from people in the community.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: The reality is is that those issues aren't going to
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: change overnight because even if someone from a community that's
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: previously under an alcohol restricted area, they then have to
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: apply to actually have that removed, and we have no
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: idea about the length and the process of that will take.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: So whilst people think, oh, this legislation will come into
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: effect and all that problems are going to go away,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: that's simply not the case. And in some instances we
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: could see more harm and that's something that we do
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: not want to see in our community.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: All right, Josh. Late yesterday we learned another two police
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: officers were allegedly assaulted on the weekend. A twenty three
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: year old man who is alleged to have been intoxicated,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: was refused access to buy alcohol from an east Side
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: supermarket when he spat at a police member on Saturday night.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Then in a separate incident, a twenty seven year old
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: man allegedly punched an officer in the head and there
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: was a Jerry can I believe, throwing at another Josh.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: When is the opposition going to be introducing the legislation
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: around mandatory sentencing for those who assault frontline workers? Is
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: it today?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: It'll be on Wednesday, Kadie. And this increased level of
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: assaults on police in particular is why these laws are necessary.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: The standard that we walk past is the standard that
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: we accept, and the Country Liberal Party does not accept
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: the thessaults against our workers is acceptable. I cannot say
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: it any.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Clear I know that there, you know the legislation. I
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: guess some people will be saying this is a really
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: good thing. Others will be saying, is it actually going
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: to make a difference or are we just going to
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: wind up in a situation where there are more people
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: locked up and not actually rehabilitated.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: That's the whole idea of a minimum term of imprisonment
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: all these sorts of assaults is to say to people,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: we're drawing a line in the sand and saying very
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: clearly that you our workers are off limits. That's what
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: this is about. Currently there are some instances where people
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: would as sold a worker and get off. Now, now
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: we want to make sure that there is a minimum.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: You know, we have the ability to set a maximum.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: We need that minimum as well in place so that
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: we can say to the community. You know, and the
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: community expectation is very clear here. They want to see
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: when someone assaults a frontline worker, whatever role they may be,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: and that there is a consequence for that action. And
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: currently I do not believe that that is what is occurring,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: and that's why we're seeing the increased level of assaults now, Josh.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: In an interesting development today, a territory industry group wants
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Government to appoint an independent commissioner to
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: evaluate and also assess the resources available for youth and
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: justice in Alice Springs. It is realistically in a bid
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: to try and address an issue that you and I
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: have spoken about before, rising crime. So the Northern Territory
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Property Council of Australia, their executive director, Ruth Palmers. She's
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: due to come on the show in about ten minutes,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: but she's prepared a report to present to the Northern
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Territory Government seeking a response to worsening youth crime and
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: unacceptable levels of anti social behavior in Alice Springs. Josh,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: do you think this is a good idea? Do we
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: need an independent commissioner to evaluate and assess the resources
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: available in Alice I've.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Spoken for a long time about a whole range of
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: reviews that could take place. We often talk about the
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Riley Review, and we talk about alcohol. We do need
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: to clearly look at what is failing in our communities
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: around any social behavior, around youth issues, and why we're
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: seeing such increased levels of crime now that is born
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: out through the crime statistics. Six thousand, six hundred instances
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: of the property offenses in Alice Springs over the last year.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: That's eighteen a day. That's unacceptable, Katie, and I welcome
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: anyone from any peak body that's willing to stand up
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: and actually put forward solutions. Obviously, I would love to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: be a part of that going forward. I've lived in
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: town my entire life, and I've spoken to other MLAs
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: from Alice Springs, not just on our side, but the
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: independent mement are about. You know, we all want to
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: see positive change in our community. We welcome the fact
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: that someone stood up and actually said, hey, something needs
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: to change. And I would say, you know, for every
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: other peak body that's basically sitting by representing a whole
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: heap of members in Alice Springs, in Catherine Dale, in
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Tenant Creek that are seeing these increased levels of offending,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: get on board and get stuck in the government, because
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: that is how we create the change. We need something
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: to change, we want to see the positive change. It's
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: been very interesting to see. Obviously this report has been compiled.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I was literally sent it last night. I haven't had
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: a chance to read through it, and that's what I'll
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: be doing doing this morning.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Well, Josh Burgoyne, we always appreciate your time. I know
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: it's been a busy morning. I am seeing the launch
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: of the Salvation Army's Red Shield appeal. You were right there.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I was thinking, we both got to get out of
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: here and make sure that we're on the radio in time.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: The scowed my way up the hill very quickly. Cat
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: to make this, but I'm glad I did good
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: On you mate, Thank you, thanks for your time today.